Jaded
by WHENICOMEAROUND
Summary: Kate and Jack share some jaded stories and secrets from their pasts.
1. Dirty Little Secret

:hums note: I CANNOT GET THIS SONG OUT OF MY HEAD!

"Let me know when I've done wrong.  
When I've known this all along...

I'll keep you, my dirty little secret (Dirty little secret)  
Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret (Just another regret, my dirty little secret)  
Who has to know?"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello all! I will not say anything about the season two premiere right off the bat, mostly for Jessa's benefit (I know you're reading this!) since she hasn't seen it yet. But if you don't want to know what happens, I suggest you don't read past the point when they get to the hatch.  
Enjoy!

THANKS: Special thanks to JJ Abbrams, the creator of LOST. Also, to ABC and Jack and Kate who should really hook up sometime (which is why I'm writing this, since the producers of LOST are too busy making Rousseau take Aaron away to let Jack and Kate get together), and Matthew Fox and Evangeline Lilly, since they are amazingly talented actors.

IN-YOUR-FACE: To Eddie, who laughed at me when someone said "jaded" and I said "That's a Green Day song!", because that was what gave me the idea to write this. Thank you, Billie Joe Armstrong, Trè Cool, and Mike Dirnt, also known as Green Day. Also, a big fat in-your-face to the All-American Rejects, who got stupid "Dirty Little Secret" stuck in my head, causing me to name a chapter after it. HA!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own LOST or anything like it, except for my outrageous Jate fics.

-JADED-  
-BY WHENICOMEAROUND-  
-CHAPTER ONE-

It was dark out. Trekking from the ship to the hatch, Jack, Kate, Locke, and Hurley were all tired, hungry, and a little freaked out. Between the explosion of a fellow survivor, a close encounter with a very creepy monster that lived in the jungle, and of course Locke thinking it was nothing, they had every right to be freaked out.

Locke and Hurley moved ahead a few yards, leaving Kate and Jack alone. It was dark. It was quiet. Then Kate said,

"There's no way you can be perfect."

Jack turned around and looked at her. "What?"

"You seem so perfect. Everyone comes to you with their problems, and you always help them. No one elected you as leader. You stepped up to plate on your own. I know you have something I don't know. You can't possibly be perfect." she smiled at him.

Jack chuckled a bit. "That's true."

"So," said Kate, falling into step beside him. "what's your secret?"

Jack looked at her. "I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours."

Kate said, "You know my secret."

"No, I know part of it." he said. She looked into his eyes and sighed. "And I know you've got more."

"Yes, but I'm already one ahead of you. Tell me your secret," she said eagerly.

Jack sighed. "I used to be married."

"So have I," said Kate triumphantly. "What was her name?"

Jack smiled at Kate's eagerness to know about his past. It was sweet. "Sara."

"Was she blond?"

Jack stopped and turned around to look at her, causing her to nearly bump into him. "How did you know?"

Kate shrugged. She was good like that.

Jack smiled and kept walking.

"Well, what happened?" asked Kate. "Why aren't you married anymore?"

Jack sighed. "It's complicated."

"You're telling me about complicated." said Kate. Jack chuckled again.

"I didn't love her," he confessed.

Kate nodded. "Oh." she said, and didn't press on.

"So," Jack said a few paces on. "tell me about your ex."

Kate didn't speak at first.

"Hey, I told you." Jack said. Kate broke into a smile. "So what happened?"

"Things just didn't work out." Kate replied mildly.

"How so?"

"He was..." Kate struggled at first. She'd never actually told anyone this, but she put her trust in Jack. "abusive."

"Oh," said Jack, turning his head to catch her eye. "I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"I don't know." Jack confessed. "I just am. Because no one deserves that, especially," Jack hesitated. "especially you."

Kate smiled.

They walked on in silence for a few more minutes, then Jack said, "I'm a Cancer."

"I'm an Aquarius," said Kate, knowing that the two were compatible without even thinking about it.

"My older brother used to call me Jackass." said Jack.

"So does Sawyer. That isn't a secret." said Kate. They both laughed.

Jack looked really nice when he was laughing, Kate noticed.

Jack was enjoying this game. "I hate writing in pencil."

"I'm allergic to peaches." Kate said in a "beat that!" type of tone.

Jack smiled. "One time I found ten dollars in melting snow." Jack said.

Kate had so many things to say, she just kept letting them flood out of her mouth. "When I was a kid I used to watch 'The Magic Garden' every day after school."

"When I was a kid I wanted to be a fireman." said Jack. Kate smiled at him.

Kate stepped over a branch on the ground and said, "At my last job, I hated my boss."

"Who doesn't?" said Jack. "I'm addicted to chewing gum."

"My favorite food is peanut butter." said Kate. "and chocolate chips."

"Chocolate chips," Jack agreed. "They're always good. I haven't voted since I turned twenty."

"I've never voted," said Kate. She smiled.

Soon enough, both of them couldn't get enough of it. They were practically shouting random phrases at each other. They kept getting crazier and crazier.

"I love taking pictures!" Jack said.

"I only lasted a year in college!" said Kate.

"I'm afraid of Mickey Mouse!"

"I can't stand the smell of magic markers!"

"MY FIRST GIRLFRIEND CHEATED ON ME!" Jack cried. "WHEN I WAS THIRTEEN!"

"I CRIED AT 'FINDING NEMO'!" Kate shouted.

They both settled down and Kate had the last say.

"I went to band camp when I was fifteen." she said. "I played the trumpet."

They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"That's a lie," said Jack.

"It is," Kate admitted. "I played the flute."

They both laughed again.

"I'm hiding a secret from the world," Jack told her a few moments after they had stopped laughing and resumed walking.

"So am I," said Kate. "Except for you."

Jack looked at her. "Me?"

"That thing, about my ex-husband? No one else in the world knows."

Somehow, knowing that he knew Kate's deepest secret made Jack feel very good.

Jack exhaled deeply.

"Tell me your secret." Kate said.

Jack smiled. "Not right now."

"If not now, then when?"

"Soon enough." said Jack. "Soon enough." 


	2. Down The Hatch

A/N: Spoiler for season two premiere. I mostly kept some parts the same, though I did alter it a bit. Also, I cut out the annoying remembering sequences about Sara and Desmond. So if you don't know who they are or what happened, stop reading now. Have fun!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own LOST. The end.

-JADED-  
-BY WHENICOMEAROUND-  
-CHAPTER TWO-

"Well," said Jack, standing up and wiping his knees. "that's that."

Locke ignored him and remained bent over the open hatch door. Kate said, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look, there's no way we're getting everyone down there in time." said Jack. "Besides, the ladder is broken."

"We can lower everyone down." said Locke reasonably.

"You're going to lower fifty people down there one by one, one with an infant? We don't even know what's down there. If you want to come back here and battle with the hatch in the morning, you can. But right now, we're going back to camp." Jack shouldered his backpack and looked at Kate. She looked at the hatch, then slowly turned back to Jack and nodded.

"Yes. Good idea. Let's go." said Hurley, who was eager to get away from this thing.

Kate, Hurley, and Jack began to walk away.

"Let's go, John." said Jack.

Locke stood and with one last look at the hatch, he left.

"Uh, guys?" said Hurley. "There's something you should see."

The other three turned and looked at what Hurley was pointing at. One word on the hatch door that read "QUARANTINE".

---------

Fifty survivors looked up at Jack expectantly.

"Well?" said Charlie.

"Uh," said Jack. He glanced to his left, where Kate stood. She smiled at him. Somehow, he felt braver.

Jack gave a little speech about the hatch and their intentions to hide everyone inside it, and how that probably wasn't going to work. So everyone would stay here tonight.

"And tomorrow morning, the sun is going to rise, and all of us are still going to be here to watch it," Jack concluded. "If we live together, we're going to die together. But if we live alone, we're going to die alone."

There was a murmur of agreement.

Jack breathed a sigh of relief.

Locke appeared beside Jack. Everyone looked at him.

"What?" said Locke. He picked up a rope.

"What are you doing?" said Jack.

"Getting some cable," said Locke. "I'm going into the hatch."

-----

"Do you really believe it?"

Jack had finished his lecture and was now sitting by the fire. He looked up at the speaker. It was Kate.

"Believe what?"

"That everything's going to be okay." said Kate. She sat down beside him.

"Yeah," said Jack, looking at her. "I do."

"It's sort of unlike you," said Kate, smiling. "the whole glass-half-full thing."

"There's a glass?" They both laughed.

"You did a good thing, saying what you said." she said. "just giving everyone something to count on. If you weren't here, Jack..." she trailed off.

Jack liked the sound of that.

Kate played with her hands in her lap. "I'm going to the hatch."

Jack looked at her.

"Look, Locke is going down there, whether you like it or not. And if he falls, and breaks his neck..." she trailed off again. " 'Live together, die alone', right?" she quoted.

"Right," said Jack, smiling. "Be careful, Kate."

She smiled. "I will."

-----

Now, we all know Jack. And we all know he would never, ever, keep still about something like this.

And right now wasn't any different.

Jack was racing around, tossing things in and out of his backpack. He felt a lump in his throat for some inexplicable reason.

"But what about all the stuff you said, about watching the sun rise and everything?" Hurley exclaimed.

"I changed my mind."

"No, Kate changed your mind." said Hurley shortly.

Jack picked up his water bottle and his eyes fell on the gun. He picked it up.

"So what?" he said. And with that, he left.

What Hurley said actually was the truth- Kate had changed Jack's mind, and he wasn't going to let her go down there alone.

And besides, he really didn't trust Locke.

When Jack got to the hatch, Kate and Locke were nowhere to be seen.

He bent down over it and shouted: "Kate!"

No answer.

"Locke!"

Still, no answer.

Jack tore a rag in two and wrapped it around his hands. He grabbed hold of the cable that was dangling over the edge of the door and held his breath.

He hit the ground with a THUD!

Jack stood up and looked around. He picked up Kate's discarded flashlight and looked around.

A mirror in the corner, but nothing else.

Strange place.

Jack began walking down the tunnel-like path. It looked somewhat like a mine or a cellar. Jack could see plumbing pipes and an electrical fusebox.

This was very strange.

Jack walked on. Near the end of the hallway he cocked his gun. He shined his flashlight in the corner and saw another mirror.

Then, Jack's heart skipped a beat and he jumped about a foot in the air when he heard music blasting all around him.

A white, blinding light turned on behind him. Jack shielded his eyes. What was going on?

He walked into a circular room filled with computers and technological-looking things. He made to touch the keyboard on the nearest one, when the music stopped abruptly and a voice came from behind him: "I wouldn't touch that."

Jack looked up and pointed his gun at Locke. "Where's Kate?"

"Jack, it's-"

"Where the hell is she!" he shouted.

"Jack, she's okay, it's-"

Just then another gun appeared by Locke's ear and a voice Jack couldn't recognize said, "Don't move."

To Jack the voice said, "Put the gun down."

"I'm not putting anything down, where's Kate-"

"Put the gun down, or I'll blow him to smithereens!" shouted the voice. "Put the damned gun down!"

The speaker turned his head to reveal his face...

A/N: CLIFFIE ENDING, HA HA FOR YOU! 


	3. Save Me

A/N: Today in English we did vocabulary (someone shoot me) and guess what one of the words were? JADED. And it doesn't mean what I thought it meant, but whatever, I'm not changing the title. Let's pretend it means what I thought it meant. :)

DISCLAIMER::pff: I wish.

-JADED-  
-BY WHENICOMEAROUND-  
-CHAPTER THREE-

"You!" gasped Jack.

"Me," said Desmond with a smirk. "now put the gun down, or your friend here gets it."

Jack looked at Locke. "Is this what you were talking about, Locke?" he said, feeling as though his tongue was a dead weight. It was hard to speak. "This is our destiny? All roads lead to here-"

"Jack, calm down-"

"PUT THE GUN DOWN!" shouted Desmond, sending a bullet into the ceiling.

Jack obeyed, slightly. He lowered his gun to his side. "Where's Kate?" he repeated.

"Oh, she's in the back, waiting for me." said Desmond with a smirk.

A lump grew in Jack's throat and he wondered with an aching heart if Kate was still alive.

He raised his gun.

"Put it down, or you both get it!" Desmond shouted.

"Where's Kate-"

"PUT IT DOWN-"

"WHERE THE HELL IS KATE?" Jack shouted.

"Jack-" Locke began, but Jack shot at his feet.

"IT'S YOUR OWN DAMN FAULT SHE'S HERE, AND IF ANYTHING HAPPENED TO HER, I'LL-"

"Jack, listen-"

"SHUT IT, THE PAIR OF YOU!" Desmond roared, sending another bullet into the ceiling. Locke and Jack stopped shouting.

Jack was breathing fast. "What are you doing here?"

"Never you mind that. Put the damned gun down."

"No!"

"PUT IT DOWN!"

"NO!" shouted Jack again, and he pulled the trigger, sending a bullet straight into Desmond's thigh.

"AAAH!" Desmond collapsed and sent another bullet, but it hit the wall beside Jack as opposed to Jack himself.

Desmond fell to the floor and dropped his gun; Locke picked it up in a hurry.

"Jack, come-"

"I'm not finished with you yet." said Jack, his gun pointing at Locke's chest. "Put the gun down."

Locke obeyed and put the gun on the floor.

"Stay here." Jack commanded.

"Jack, I-"

"STAY HERE!" Jack roared, and Locke got the message.

Jack jumped over Desmond, who was attempting to stand, and raced past him into another room, which looked similar to an apartment.

"JACK!"

Jack turned; he fell to his knees beside Kate, who was tied to a chair nearby.

She was crying.

"Kate, what's wrong-"

"Please," she sobbed. "please, don't let him do it-"

"Do what, Kate?"

"Please," she cried. "please, Jack, please..."

"Do what, Kate, do what?"

She gasped and sobbed. "Don't let him hurt me, Jack. Don't let him..."

"Hey," said Jack. He held onto her face and spoke. "Kate, look at me. Kate, look." she looked.

"I won't let anything happened to you, okay?" she was still sobbing. "Okay?"

Kate nodded hysterically and cried out again.

"Let me help you," said Jack. He picked up a knife that was lying nearby that had probably been used to cut the rope and cut Kate free.

Kate inhaled shakily. "Thank you." she said to Jack.

Jack held onto her face still. "Tell me what he did to you."

Kate breathed in again, then pointed to the knife, then to herself, again and again. She then began crying uncontrollably into Jack's shoulder.

"Hey," Jack said in what he hoped was a comforting voice. He put a strong hand on her back. "Kate, it's okay. I'm here, I'm here."

Kate continued to sob. She threw her arms around his neck.

"He tried to kill me, Jack," she whispered through the tears. Jack held her tighter. "He tried to kill me... please, don't let him... please, help me..."

"Hey," said Jack in that same soothing tone. "it's okay. It's gonna be okay."

A minute later, Jack pulled her up.

"Kate, listen, we've got to get out of here." Jack said.

Kate nodded shakily.

Jack helped her stand and led her back to where he'd come from. Desmond was nowhere to be seen, but Locke was standing in the exact same spot as before, this time, holding a gun.

And pointing it at Jack. 


	4. Stay With Me

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the FINALE CHAPTER, so of course I have to put my bit in at the beginning.  
I have only made it to the finale of one story before, not counting one-shots, and that was EMENIUS SLEEPUS. That was sort of disappointing to some, I have been told, but personally I think it sent a message to my readers. That one was about dreams. This one is about secrets.  
Two songs I really like ("Dreams" from the Game and "Dirty Little Secret" from the All-American Rejects) went into the making of those stories. Last time I didn't think of it but this time I enclosed the lyrics at the end of this story for chapter five. Read them. They really relate.  
Plus, I love that song.

DISCLAIMER::clears throat and recites in unenthused voice: LOST belongs to JJ Abbrams and all those people at ABC with high authority. I own nothing. Except this snappy disclaimer, but it is also wearing thin.

-JADED-  
-BY WHENICOMEAROUND-  
-CHAPTER FOUR-

Instinctively, Jack raised his own gun and put one arm behind him to protect Kate.

"Put it down, Locke." he said.

"No can do, Jack." said Locke. He seemed to be enjoying the situation.

"Put... the gun... down, Locke." said Jack shakily.

Kate stepped forward, ready to do whatever she needed to do, and Locke shot at her leg.

Jack shouted a mix of swearwords, threats, and names, then dropped his gun, all forgotten, and slammed his fist into Locke's jaw.

Locke dropped his gun in surprise; Jack slammed his fist into Locke's face over and over again, then after a sick blow to the head, Locke fell silent.

Jack picked up the guns and raced over to Kate.

"Ugh," was all she said.

Jack pulled her up. "Kate, we're leaving."

"Aah," she said thickly.

"Stay with me, Kate, stay with me."

"Aah," said Kate again.

Jack was horrified, confused, and livid all at the same time. He picked her up and clumsily pointed a flashlight ahead of him with one hand.

Kate rested her head on his shoulder. Even sweaty and disgusting, Jack smelled nice.

When they got to the bottom of the chute, Jack stopped. He placed Kate gently on the floor.

"Are you all right?"

Stupid question, really. Anyone who gets shot in the leg is probably not all right.

But Kate said, "I think so."

She tried to stand, but Jack held her back.

"Jack, she said. "how are we going to get back up?"

Jack looked around; his eyes fell on a rope lying in the corner.

----------

Looking back, Jack was not entirely sure how he had managed to make himself tie the rope around his and Kate's waists and pull them up to the top; by the time they reached the top, Jack's arms hurt from pulling and there was a red, irritated area around his middle where the rope was.

He would say, he knew he had to do it.

Once they got to the top Kate was only semi-conscious. Jack had wrapped a rag around her leg to try and stop her from bleeding so much, but it hadn't done much. They got to the top and he picked her up again, only thinking, "This is what I need to do."

"Jack," said Kate profusely. "Jack, I've still got your back."

Jack smiled. He put his hand on the back of her head and trekked on. "I know, Kate, I know."

"Tell me your secret now, Jack." she said. "Tell me your secret."

Jack said, "I think you should know my secret by now."

Kate smiled. "No," she said. "I don't know, no, no."

Knowing that he would draw attention if he were to bring Kate back to the caves, he sat her down against a tree.

"Wait here," he said, which was probably a stupid thing to say, since Kate was immobilized, but Jack said it anyway. "I'm coming right back."

And he did; he ran all the way to the caves, got his medical bag, and ran all the way back. Kate's eyes were drooping, but she was still awake and waiting for him.

He examined Kate's leg.

"Um, Kate?"

"Yeah, Jack?"

"Would, um... would it be strange if I asked you to take off your pants?"

Kate smiled. "I wouldn't mind," she said.

Jack helped her take off her pants. The wound in the side of her leg was dripping blood.

Kate watched him take the bullet out of her leg, clean it, and wrap a bandage around it.

"Do you feel okay?" Jack asked her.

"Yes," she said. "thank you. So much."

"It's fine." he said. He helped her sit up, then handed her his water.

She accepted; when she finished drinking, she surveyed him.

"I can't figure it out." she said, smiling.

Jack, who was in the midst of placing his things back into his backpack, froze.

"What?" he asked her, not turning around.

"Your secret." she said.

Jack closed his eyes and opened them a second later. He took the water bottle out of Kate's hands and put his hand on the back of her neck. He pulled her forward.

And he kissed her.

When they finally pulled away, Kate was still smiling.

"I've got your back too, Kate," said Jack very quietly. "I love you."

"I love you too, Jack."

A/N: TA DAAAAAAH! How was that? Nice and Jate, just how it should be.  
CAN'T WAIT UNTIL WEDNESDAY... LOVE YOU ALL!  
-WHENICOMEAROUND 


	5. Dirty Little Secret by TAAR

NOTE: As I said last chapter, I love this song. We've all got skeletons in our closets, it says. I have one. You have one too. It's our own choice if we want to share it or not, but sometimes it helps.  
Think about your secret when you read this.  
-WHENICOMEAROUND

DISCLAIMER: "Dirty Little Secret" and "Move Along" belong to the All-American Rejects. I am just borrowing.

-THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS-  
-"DIRTY LITTLE SECRET-  
-"MOVE ALONG"-

Let me know when I've done wrong When I've known this all along I go around a time or two Just to waste my time with you.

Tell me all that you've thrown away Find out games you don't want to play You are the only one that needs to know...

I'll keep you, my dirty little secret (Dirty little secret)  
Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret (Just another regret, hope that you can keep it, my dirty little secret)  
Who has to know?

When we live such fragile lives It's the best way we survive I go around a time or two Just to waste my time with you.

Tell me all that you've thrown away Find out games you don't want to play You are the only one that needs to know...

I'll keep you, my dirty little secret (Dirty little secret)  
Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret (Just another regret, hope that you can keep it, my dirty little secret)  
Who has to know?

The way she feels inside (Inside)  
Those thoughts I can't deny (Deny)  
These sleeping dogs won't lie (Won't lie)  
And all I've tried to hide Is eating me apart Trace this line back...

I'll keep you, my dirty little secret Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret...

I'll keep you, my dirty little secret Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret.

Who has to know?

Who has to know?

A/N: Hope you enjoyed JADED! Will think of a new fic as soon as I'm not loaded down with homework, yelling at the idiots, etc. JATE FOREVER!  
-WHENICOMEAROUND 


End file.
